a_gentle_boy: (Release)
Lucas ([personal profile] a_gentle_boy) wrote2010-10-18 12:40 am

Twentieth PSI

[action, multi-topic for everyone]
Lucas is a wreck.  By now, he has forsaken the hat and the mask, and his burn marks are very clearly visible to anyone who didn't guess before.  He doesn't particularly care.

1. He stumbles across town like a zombie, smashing into things wherever he goes, barely registering the pain.  He stops suddenly in random spots, staring at the floor or at a tree or at a shop window or at a drone.  This is where we had ice cream.  This is where I bought him the presentThis is the bench where he listened to my story . . . This is where . . . This is . . .

2. In school, he keeps his head down and buried and sits in a far corner.  His shoulders occasionally heave.

3. At home, he shuts himself in his room.  Family members or those who visit him will find drawing after drawing after drawing of a certain person strewn all across the floor, each one with slash marks through the face.  Is he already forgetting?  Is he losing the smile, the laugh, the voice?

[action, forward-dated, open to Taiwan, Saki, and Mindy]
A full day after his meeting with Taiwan, Lucas enters the house uninvited.  He doesn't care about not being selfish anymore.  He has remembered -- There is something very precious he needs to get back, the symbol and the memory that he absolutely needs.

He finds it in the basement.  True to his word, the Netherlands has framed the very first drawing that Lucas has ever made, of Miffy and Hello Kitty enjoying a picnic in a park.  Propped up beside it is the best piece of art that Lucas has ever produced: a drawing of the two of them, laughing and happy, so closely resembling each other in looks that they could've passed as a father and a son.

He is about to leave with his treasures when he catches a glimpse of something else out of the corner of his eye.  A shoebox.  For 'Lucas'.  His hands shake as he pops the lid; he stares at what's inside.

"Mr. Netherlands . . . . . . . I . . .  I . . . OK.  I'll keep going.  I'll keep fighting . . . "

((I have been informed that Lucas has been left notes of all the conversations the Netherlands has had with Jane Smith, the Westport notes, and Richard Grey's wallet.  Also, Nini, if you don't mind, I think I will forward-date that conversation they just had to after this.))

[identity profile] a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com 2010-10-20 09:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[Lucas pauses for a few moments before he reaches to take ahold of Crowe's hand.]

[identity profile] rapier-ex.livejournal.com 2010-10-20 10:28 pm (UTC)(link)
We're all allowed a little selfishness sometimes...

[identity profile] snackaholictank.livejournal.com 2010-10-20 10:37 pm (UTC)(link)
...Who was it?

[identity profile] bridgetroll.livejournal.com 2010-10-20 11:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Because I'm not worth it, dammit.

[identity profile] perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com 2010-10-20 11:31 pm (UTC)(link)
[He gives you an encouraging pat on the shoulder, and a bigger smile.]


Great. Let's go.

[identity profile] a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com 2010-10-21 12:24 am (UTC)(link)
[Lucas follows along silently, looking a bit like a dog on a leash. His gaze is mostly kept to the ground.]

[identity profile] a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com 2010-10-21 12:24 am (UTC)(link)
[Always the same response. Lucas tries something else.]

. . . How long have you felt like that?

[identity profile] a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com 2010-10-21 12:25 am (UTC)(link)
The Netherlands . . .

[identity profile] supersizedpower.livejournal.com 2010-10-21 12:33 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, yeah.

Well...you never know for sure.

[identity profile] a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com 2010-10-21 12:40 am (UTC)(link)
[Lucas is quiet for a while before he responds.]

Maybe . . .

[identity profile] bridgetroll.livejournal.com 2010-10-21 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
Centuries.

[identity profile] wybrows.livejournal.com 2010-10-21 02:21 am (UTC)(link)
Well... Well, ya gotta accept it! I mean, if Oz left, I wouldn't be cryin' over it. [ Yes she would. ]

You got other friends, don't ya?

[identity profile] perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com 2010-10-21 02:40 am (UTC)(link)
[Crowe will just walk along with him. He figures Lucas will talk once he wants to. And of course, he's welcome at Crowe's house for as long as he wants.]

[identity profile] a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com 2010-10-21 03:02 am (UTC)(link)
[When they are almost there, a soft voice speaks up from behind Crowe.]

Can we sit outside . . . ?

[identity profile] a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com 2010-10-21 05:40 am (UTC)(link)
. . . Not like him. He was . . . He was like my dad.

[identity profile] a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com 2010-10-21 05:43 am (UTC)(link)
So . . . it's about time you started . . . not.

[identity profile] a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com 2010-10-21 05:44 am (UTC)(link)
[Lucas can't seem to bring himself to respond to that, silently allowing the tears to flow instead. After a good length of time, he sniffs and hiccups a little.]

[identity profile] rapier-ex.livejournal.com 2010-10-21 07:15 am (UTC)(link)
There there... it's okay to cry...

[identity profile] perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com 2010-10-21 11:47 am (UTC)(link)
...Of course.

[There's a few chairs on the porch Crowe leads Lucas to.]

[identity profile] bridgetroll.livejournal.com 2010-10-21 03:04 pm (UTC)(link)
I can't change, kid. It's pointless to even try.

[identity profile] a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com 2010-10-21 07:57 pm (UTC)(link)
That's . . . That's just stupid. You don't lose anything from trying. You always lose out from not trying.

[identity profile] a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com 2010-10-21 08:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[Lucas sits.
If Crowe is anywhere close enough for him to do this, he will lean his head against him, as if he needs to feel the touch of another person. If Crowe is not, he will scrunch up into a small ball.

Lucas will sit silently for more than an hour before leaving. He feels very much like he is ten again . . . Waiting for Claus to come home.]

[identity profile] a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com 2010-10-21 08:20 pm (UTC)(link)
[Not when he's already done so much of it. Not when he promised himself he wouldn't do it again. But he calms down a little, anyway.]

Thanks . . .

[identity profile] perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com 2010-10-21 08:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[Crowe is more than used to being a comforting shoulder - especially considering he's friends with a guy like Ren - so he's fine for letting Lucas sit as long as he needs.]

[identity profile] bridgetroll.livejournal.com 2010-10-21 09:19 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't deserve to win. Hasn't that gotten through your head by now? Geez, you're so stubborn I'm almost jealous.

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